Looking for the Revolution

This fascinating film focuses on the search for revolution in Bolivia. Che Guevara started the revolution many years ago, but now it rests in the hands of President Evo Morales – an ex-coca leaf farmer. Is revolution still on the agenda in Bolivia?

Looking for the Revolution

Looking for the Revolution

Che Guevara died in southern Bolivia 40 years ago while trying to ignite the sparks of revolution throughout South America. His death at the hands of Bolivian Rangers, trained and financed by the US Government, marked the beginning of the cocaine era in Bolivia.

Pressed by the masses who gave him a massive mandate, the first indigenous president, ex-coca leaf farmer Evo Morales has nationalised the oil industry and passed laws on agrarian reform. All the election speeches, which resulted in his landslide victory, sounded quite revolutionary, as did the iconography.

But a closer look reveals that the old system is pretty much alive inside the new one. Corruption, nepotism and old-fashioned populism are at the core of this movement. The more Evo does to create employment, the more the landowners conspire against him and paralyse Bolivia’s economy.

As a result, no jobs are created and the poor press Evo even harder. Thus a cycle of tension threatens to crush the country and the indigenous revolution as well.

Looking for the Revolution is about the inner workings of that tension as witnessed by the characters of the film. The landowners and the indigenous movement are still wrestling for power and neither has claimed victory yet. Ultimately, the search for the revolution that Che Guevara tried to start in Bolivia is now in Morales’ hands.

This film is a part of the documentary series Why Democracy? – 10 Films from independent award-winning filmmakers in China, India, Japan, Pakistan, Liberia, Egypt, Denmark, Russia, Bolivia and the USA.